


Then We Rotted In Winter

by Felicity_The_Cat



Series: Until Spring [2]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Altered Mental States, Animalistic, F/M, Feral Behavior, Loss of Sanity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:53:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23183566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Felicity_The_Cat/pseuds/Felicity_The_Cat
Summary: Several years after Vanny decided to stay with William for eternity, the woman's sanity begins to wither away.What humanity she once had is now practically nonexistent. While Springtrap is very aware, Vanny is now closer to an animal than a human. Somehow, her sanity is withering away much like the children that became monsters before her.William still keeps her by his side, though. She waited for him to return to her, and he was never going to leave her again.
Relationships: Reluctant Follower/Springtrap (Five Nights at Freddy's), William Afton | Dave Miller/Reluctant Follower
Series: Until Spring [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666687
Comments: 1
Kudos: 40





	1. She's Not Her

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't a canon continuation of Until Spring. It's more of a 'what if' scenario.
> 
> You can consider it a canon continuation if you'd like, though.

Wet. It was wet and cold. The creature let out a horrible growl; clearly frustrated with the state that her den was currently in. Her mate opened his eye lazily, giving her a once over as she pawed and clawed at the bed with her remaining paw. The room was cold, and the ceiling had begun leaking again last week. There was once a time when she would have been able to function well enough to fix the damage, but she was entirely too focused on getting her bed in order. The bigger creature nearby; a disgusting, filthy rabbit, watched her with interest. He had no idea why she was so insistent on keeping things so neat and tidy; it was like she was an animal, really. This was all his fault, he supposed with a small huff. He hadn't expected his life to end up here. The house they had once called home was falling apart. There were drafts everywhere, and most of the rooms had begun leaking from the wear and tear over the years. How many years had they been living like this?

Springtrap had lost track around twenty years ago. Vanny's tattered ears perked up when a noise from the hallway caught her attention. She spun around frantically and

raced over to the doorway, staring out at the empty, decaying hall. She moved back and forth, cocking her head curiously from side to side.

Her legs trembled ever so slightly, but she kept herself upright. Her once white fur was disgusting and stained, but there was no longer any water to clean her.

Springtrap shifted from where he was lying on the floor. "It's nothing, Vanny." He huffed. "It's probably the fucking squirrel again."

Vanny's ears twitched at the use of her name; she knew that whenever he said that, he was referring to her. She turned to look at him with wide, frightened eyes.

"We're fine, Vanny." He reassured her. Vanny's pupils locked onto him for a long moment before she slowly trudged back into the bedroom and back over to the bed.

She hadn't understood much of what he said, but she knew that he seemed more annoyed than concerned, so there was nothing for her to fear.

Springtrap watched as Vanny resumed trying to tidy up the bed. The legs had broken years ago, and now the frame sat flat on the floor. There was no room for monsters to hide under it; there was no need, anyway. They slept  _ on  _ the bed where it was more comfortable. Springtrap remained where he was in silence for a while, just watching the way Vanny moved. She no longer had that feminine human grace; she was hunched over and twitchy like an animal. 

Her eyes looked nothing like they used to. Where they had once been bright red had now darkened to a pitch black. Her white pupils now glowed red and had lost the emotion they once held. She could still express fear, sadness and anger, but it wasn’t the same. Her eyes didn’t light up in the same way they once had whenever William presented a new project he was working on. There were no projects to be worked on anymore, though. They had no parts to even keep themselves together anymore. Their fur was covered in filth and their mechanics had begun to grind and wear down. Springtrap found it difficult to move his fingers, but he simply didn’t have the necessary tools to fix himself… or Vanny. The dirty rabbit looked up what was once his partner in crime. Her sanity had withered, and what she once was no longer existed. She  _ was _ Vanny; she was the woman he had fallen in love with all those years ago, but she wasn’t that woman anymore. Her claws were sharp and wild, and her ears were tattered and worn. Her teeth were sharp and some had broken from years of unnecessary use.

Only one of her arms remained, much to Springtrap’s dismay. A dog had gotten ahold of her one night when they were snooping around outside, and it had made off with the entire robotic limb.

Vanny had still been herself then, and she was very aware of the loss of her arm.

She clung to Springtrap for days as she shook and tried to cope with the loss of her limb.

There was nothing to make her a new one, though, and it wasn’t like they could go into town to get parts from a store. Springtrap had patched her up as best he could, but that missing arm was the start of her plunge into insanity. She began forgetting big words and how to pronounce certain things. Springtrap thought very little of it until one day, she forgot her last name.

They had been snuggling on the couch together when William had mentioned something about his former wife. When he was recanting a story about ‘Mrs. Afton’, a look of confusion crossed Vanny’s face. “Who?” She had questioned with a confused expression. Springtrap blinked in bewilderment and stared down at the spotted bunny cuddled against his side. 

“My…. wife.” He muttered softly. Vanny shifted and pulled away from Springtrap a little.

The doe’s eyes scanned over the bigger rabbit for a moment as if she was searching for any sign that what he was saying was some sort of joke.   
“I’m…. I’m your wife.” She said in a shaky, hurt voice. Springtrap leaned forward and looked into her eyes for a long moment. His mind was racing and his paws found their way to her soft, fuzzy cheeks. Vanny shook in his hold; she could sense his fear, but she didn’t know why he was afraid. William began to tremble with her, and he opened his mouth to speak several times, but the words weren’t coming out. Finally, somehow, he managed a simple question.   
“What’s your last name, Vanessa?”

Vanny stared at him for a while, clearly unsure how to respond. “Afton.” She responded confidently. Springtrap lowered his ears in distress.

“Vanny… We never married.” 

Vanny’s look of confusion grew and grew, and then it turned into a look of panic.

“What?” She whined out. Springtrap had pulled her against him in a tight hug.

  
  


Her memories only worsened from that point onward.

She began to forget how to operate her sewing machine, how electronics worked, and eventually, speech began to slip from her grasp. More and more words lost their meaning to her, and her fluent english became broken english. Now, she barely spoke at all. Vanny, or whatever was left of her, usually only muttered simple words and phrases. Before things got to this point, she had clung to William one night, begging and pleading with him not to forget her. 

_ “I won’t forget you,” _ he tried to assure her in a soft, calm voice. He held onto her as she wept.

“What’s happening to me?” She sobbed out. Springtrap knew, but he didn’t have the heart to tell her. Just like the children he had taken, she was losing her humanity. Her sanity was slipping away, and her ability to cling to who she was, was failing. It was only a matter of time until she couldn’t remember anything about her previous life. Her father, cousins, Clay, building this horrible suit that had robbed her of both her life and now her very being.

“Don’t let me forget.” She pleaded. Springtrap clung to her in silence. He couldn’t promise her anything, and he wasn’t going to feed her lies.

  
That was so long ago, yet Springtrap still remembered it oh so clearly.

His own memories remained, as did whatever semblance of humanity he had before dying in this suit he now called his body. Somehow, some way, William had managed to cheat death  _ and _ keep a firm hold on his previous life. He was still William Afton. He once had three beautiful children, a wife, and then a lover that he adored more than life itself. Despite the fact that Vanny hadn’t been able to stay the same after death, he still loved her all the same. She was still the woman he loved, and he was going to stick by her and protect her for the rest of eternity. Vanny made herself comfortable on the bed with a pleased huff and looked down at him with a content expression on her worn, dirty face. William stared up into those red pupils, and he wanted to cry.

It was Vanny, yet it wasn't. Some part of her was still there, but she wasn’t herself.

This was Vanny, but it was a Vanny that he couldn’t sing with anymore. She was a monster of his own making, and he had no one to blame but himself. 

Just like he had changed after death, so had she. He was Springtrap, and she was Snare.

They were the same people that had breathed air and bled blood, but now they were abominations that lurked in the darkness.

Springtrap lowered his head back down with a weary expression plastered to his face.

“I love you.” He muttered softly. Vanny cocked her head sideways, but she didn’t know how to form a response. Snare settled for an animalistic noise instead.

Springtrap shifted as his eyes fell closed. He took it as an “I love you, too.”


	2. But She's Still There

Vanny shivered. It was cold here.

Her skin was cold, the air was cold, and even  _ he _ was cold. William had gone cold so long ago, but even here, he still lacked warmth. Vanny had no idea where  _ ‘here’  _ was. It was just a place, she supposed. It was a place that didn’t matter. It somewhat resembled her childhood home; it was broken, dark, sad… cold. Half of it was her new home, though, her home that she actually felt comfortable in. This was her home with William, yet it wasn’t. There was nothing living here, she knew. Everything was dead, even  _ him. _ Vanny stared ahead at the man in front of her. His pale skin was littered with horrible gashes and tears, exposing flesh and muscle that still oozed blood. The marks of the spring locks were permanently engraved into his flesh, but that was alright. Vanny felt no different towards him, and he was content to leave the marks be. He didn’t feel them anymore. He felt no pain; just cold.

“You’ve been gone,” William called out in a gentle tone. Vanny continued to stare ahead at where William sat, mangled and bleeding in a kitchen chair. The house around them seemed to move as if it were alive… but it wasn’t. Nothing was.

Vanny didn’t know what to say. What could she possibly reply with?

“How long?” William asked. Vanny stood, motionless in the hallway. She lingered in the doorway, ignoring the distant screams of an alarm clock that no longer mattered. There was no time. Time was nothing. Vanny shivered, unsure of how long it truly had been. The man in front of her hadn’t aged, though. His hair hadn’t greyed, his eyes hadn’t clouded over, and his wounds were still fresh. Nothing had decayed except for the house around them.

“I don’t know,” Vanny muttered in a solemn tone. 

William’s smile grew, and he opened his arms up, inviting her closer.

His stomach had been torn open, and his intestines were hanging out, pooling on the floor as his feet. Vanny stared at them for a while, unsure of how to feel. She didn’t find this gross, and she wasn’t sad like she should have been. Her feelings seemed so distant, just like the screams of the alarm clock. What day had it been? On what would have been today?

“Does it matter?” William asked in a soft tone as if reading her mind. Vanny sucked in a small breath. _ Did it matter? _

_ “Do I matter?” _ She asked softly. William’s smile grew. 

“Of course you do, Darling.” The man purred in his wonderful, soothing voice. Vanny took a step closer to him, and her legs trembled. She didn’t want to go, but she wanted to embrace the man in front of her. Her head hurt, her body hurt, and she vaguely realized that one of her arms was missing. Her arm….

Vanny looked down at herself, staring at pale skin… Her fur was gone, but the marks from the spring lock suit remained. Where was she? What was she?

“Where will I go?” She asked in a shaky tone. William offered her a smile as he spoke.

“You will stay, but you will stay here.”

“Where is here?” She questioned as her gaze finally returned to the man.

“Your mind isn’t safe, Vanessa. It is failing you. You are safe here.” William hummed, opening his arms even wider. Vanny trembled, turned away from William, and stared at the dark hallway she had stumbled down what seemed like several hours ago. 

What about  _ William _ ? He was at the end of the tunnel, waiting for her. His beautiful golden-green fur… His tattered ear and large, fur-covered hands. She was waiting there, too. Her body.

Snare.

“You need to stay here, Vanny.” The mangled William began again, pulling her attention away from the hallway and the rabbits waiting at the end of it.

“You’ll be there, but you will be here.” The man tried to explain. Nothing made sense, but Vanny couldn’t pull her gaze away from William. Her head felt foggy, and her body ached as blood pooled out from her injuries. They were old, though. Why did they still bleed?

She had gone into that suit years ago, why was this happening now?

“I will be fine,” William assured her with a crooked grin. “You will remain there, but hidden.”

Vanny blinked. “Remain where?” She asked in a shaky voice.

“Snare,” William said simply. “You will just hide here, or else you will fade completely. Do you understand me, Vanessa?”

Vanny stared down at the floor, watching as the floorboards shifted ever so slightly as if they were grass blowing in the wind. This place didn’t make sense, but things hadn’t made sense in a while.

“I will be alright,” William repeated, managing to grab her attention yet again. His arms were still outstretched, seeking a hug. Vanny took a step closer, then another, and another. The screams of the alarm faded, and the room got just a little colder as she reached William. Vanny lowered her tattered body onto his, and he hugged her tight as the room stilled. Everything was calm, and everything was cold. She would stay here for a while. Cold, bloody fingers ran through her hair, soothing her and making her headache fade ever so slightly.

“Can I go back?” She asked in a scared voice. William didn’t reply. His cold, dead fingers continued to stroke her head as she snuggled into his chest.

“Do I want to?” She asked aloud, although it was more to herself than anyone else.

William was silent, and he held her close as she sucked in another small breath.

“Will we be okay?” She asked. William paused his stroking and let out a soft chuckle.

“Aren’t we always?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a little bit more I wanted to add to this. Here you go <3


End file.
